8 tips for creating great Not for Profit website content

Writing content for your Not for Profit
or social enterprise website can be daunting. It doesn’t matter if you’re
writing for a new or existing website, creating the content that will form the
backbone of your site and keep visitors interested needs to engage, inform and
entice.

How often have you done a search that returned
multiple pages of results that match or have a connection? This is the
challenge of gaining exposure from topic specific articles to generic courses.

So, if you’re trying to create content
for your Not for Profit, social enterprise or charity that is guaranteed to
attract the right audience and have them punching the ‘donate’ or ‘get involved’
button then I might not have a silver bullet. But, here are some tips for how
to create the best content you can and by distributing it correctly, you’ll
have a greater chance of growing your audience.

1. It’s about them

Have you ever read an article about an
issue and been left wondering why you should care? This is probably because the
author was more intent on getting the message across about the topic without
giving due consideration to you as an audience member and what you might want
to know.

When starting to plan your content start
by asking the question ‘What’s in it for them?’ The answer to this question is
critical to making sure that your audience feel like you are talking to them.
This will help create greater engagement

2. Make it Actionable

Actionable website content won’t just
tell your reader ‘why’ it will show them ‘how.’ You need to guide them to take
the required action. Being clear about what is required and thinking about
other ways you can support them to act such as using a video, showing an
infographic or even including a step by step guide with detailed instructions that
will help them to take action.

By showing them a simple process you’ll
set yourself apart and increase the chances of your audience taking the desired
action.

3. It’s Credible

Not for Profits, social enterprises and
charities don’t tend to struggle with creating credible content because we work
across such a wide range of social issues.

Whilst many of your visitors might know
about your cause and some might have a lot of information don’t fall into the
trap of thinking that what you have to say is common knowledge. There are many
Not for Profits and social enterprises working in areas that many people may
know nothing about.

Use data and case studies to build
credibility. Importantly, to build credibility make sure that you use real
information. Remember, not everything is common knowledge particularly not in
the social purpose sector, nor is your expertise enough for people to immediately
trust you. Use the data, stats and research-backed evidence that you have at
your disposal, even if the data is your own, to build your credibility.

4. Use a consistent voice

Consistency of voice means that people
will get used to your organisation. Ideally, you need to use your organisations
voice. Imagine for a minute that you have a communications person on staff who
writes all of your marketing content. Your
process for signing off content requires more than 1 person in the organisation
to review it. As each person makes edits you suddenly have multiple voices
influencing your content. Having an organisational voice helps your
communication in so many ways.

By identifying an organisation personality you also create a voice for content
creation. So, when writing your content, you can ask the question ‘how would
this person say this?’ This becomes a guide for expressing ideas and messaging
and helps achieve the goal of consistent tone of voice.

For example, let’s say that you’re
writing a service brochure to attract individuals who are funded by the NDIS.
To engage that person your brochure has to do more than tell them what your
service does it has to inform them about your attitude to the delivery of the
program and your approach to providing services to people funded through the
NDIS. By having a personality you can engage the audience from an
emotional level and then introduce any data to support your proposition.

To stand out, and increase your chances
of engagement, your Not for Profit needs to define your personality and be consistent
in how you use it.

5. It’s Thought-Provoking

While your website
content absolutely needs to be credible, actionable, written for your audience
and use a consistent voice, it needs to make people think.

If you’re able to keep people thinking
about your post or page content, readers interest will be peaked and they will
pay attention to what you have to say next.

People have perceptions of how things
are or should be. If your content can use your experiences, data, case studies
etc to be thought-provoking and interesting then it will also be memorable. People
pay more attention to content that they can engage with and are likely to share
it with their audience.

Remember, the sharing of your content is
a form of brand promotion for your Not for Profit, charity or social enterprise.

6. Make it easy to read

Your website content should be easy and
enjoyable to read so that readers don’t move away quickly. Some tips to achieve
this are:

Well-written. Make
it grammatically correct and double check your spelling;

Easy to read quickly. Try to use relatively short sentences
and avoid jargon. Keep the language simple. Remember, you’re writing for a
person to read not a bot. But you can use an SEO plugin which assesses your
contents readability level and this will assist you for ease of reading and
also for SEO.

Scannable.Use
heading hierarchy, bullet points and short paragraphs that make scanning
easier. If you want to create in-depth detailed content, then you might need to
create an ebook that people can download and read your ideas in more detail.

Chunk your text. Break your text into
bite sized paragraphs and keep the concept of scannable in mind. Use images to break
up text but also to highlight your message.

Think about the content that you read.
Use this as a guide for creating your own and you’ll be on the right path

7. Deliver value

We all want our readers to keep coming
back to our site and to share our message. In this social media driven world
likes and shares are a measure of success. To get these results your content has
to be valued. Whether you’re informing, educating, problem solving or just
trying to entertain you need to give the reader something they want or need.
Remember point 1 – It’s about them!!

For example, ‘7 tips for creating great
not for profit website content’ tells you what you’ll get from the article and
suggests that the content is easy to read and actionable.

8. It Has a Purpose

Be focused. Unless you’re writing an in-depth
article explaining a complex issue stick to the point. Make sure that your
content has a purpose and the purpose is clear to you. The reason for making
the purpose about you is because you’re writing to achieve an outcome. Your
reasons could be to raise your online profile, create brand awareness, get
donations for a campaign, influence policy change. Your purpose will decide
your call to action.

Final Thoughts

Content creation is the key to
engagement in a saturated online world. Not for Profits have stories and
insights that can tap straight into your audience’s emotions. This is where
decisions are made. By creating great content that gives your audience insights
they didn’t have, shows them that you’re thinking of them and offers some value
you’ll be able to extend your reach via social channels.

As a result, this website content will
lead to increased engagement with new and prospective audience members and
position you as an expert in your field.

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